River cruise

The key ships launching in 2025 – and how agents can get on them

TTG approached travel’s ocean and river lines late last year to find out how agents could get onboard the new vessels launching in 2025. Here’s what they had to say

Riviera Travel to pay agents commission on wider range of elements in 2025

Starting 1 January, the operator now pays commission on single supplements, upgrades, extra baggage, pre-booked seats and priority boarding bookings

'It's a great alternative to a city break': behind the scenes on the TTG Riviera Fest fam

Join a group of lucky agents on Riviera Travel’s Burgundy, The River Rhone and Provence sailing onboard the Lord Byron, and discover their highlights and key selling tips

Tui pushes app sales as it goes up against Jet2 and easyJet with peaks offers

Tui has opened its peaks offers via its app – three days before putting them on sale through the trade – while Jet2holidays has also detailed its turn of year discounts

Inspire targeting 'significant' growth with launch of 'one-stop-shop' cruise website

Inspire Europe customers can search different live cruise options according to their preferences on the new website – www.cruisecollection.uk – but must call one of the agency’s 90 homeworkers or ring its call centre to book. The site features 44 lines from across the cruise sector

Panache Cruises invests £500k to support UK and US expansion plans

Money will be spent on additional office space for Panache Cruises at Strawberry Fields Digital Hub in Lancashire, and a larger premises in the US as well as more staff on both sides of the Atlantic

'Business as usual,' says Scenic Group as Nick Hughes departs

Director of sales, partnerships and strategic growth departs, with Scenic pledging to ensure support for agents is ’business as usual’

Tui agent reveals 2,000th cruise booking celebration plans

Assistant store manager Rachel Liversidge, who has spent 24 years with the travel giant, has sold an average of 75 cruises a year. Yet, she reckons she has only personally sailed on a cruise ship ’five or six’ times

Uniworld bets on demand for unique long-haul river experiences

UK and Ireland managing director Chris Townson has told industry partners long-haul destinations such as India and Peru are already sold out for early 2025

Avalon Waterways to sell exclusively through agents in Ireland

Following a recent uptick in demand for river cruising in the country, the line has agreed a partnership with ASM Ireland to start selling its sailings via the Irish travel trade

AmaWaterways to consider Congo River sailings if safety challenges can be overcome

After the luxury river line recently referred to itself as a ’pioneer’, TTG asked which waterways around the world it could operate on in the future

Discounting frustration, female leadership and famous explorers, plus four more cruise talking points

How did cruise lines react when agents expressed frustration over discounting in the market? What can agents do to up their expedition sales? And how cruise is becoming a more sustainable holiday choice? Everything we learned from Advantage’s biggest-ever cruise conference

Tauck to launch two new-build river ships in France in 2026

Two new ships will join the Tauck fleet in spring 2026 sailing the Rhone and the Seine

Tui River Cruises unveils 'quality' spaces onboard upcoming Nile ship

Tui Al Horeya, due to launch in November, will have 74 cabins to accommodate 145 passengers per sailing

Tui River Cruises to launch its largest ship to date in 2026

Starting spring 2026, newly refurbished Tui Aria will operate sailings between six and nine nights from Amsterdam, Basel and Frankfurt

Emerald Cruises to launch new river ship in 2026

Emerald Cruises will launch its seventh river cruiser in 2026 as it continues its refurbishment programme of its existing vessels

Tui, Crystal, Silver Travel: all the latest travel trade people moves

Tui has announced major changes to its leadership in the UK and at group level, and there has also been a change at the top at British Airways Holidays. Elsewhere, a familiar face in the agent world returns to travel

AmaWaterways delays launch of new vessel citing ‘challenges of being a pioneer’

The luxury river line said while the launch of the first Colombia-based vessel – AmaMagdalena – has been delayed, the second remains on schedule and will launch in June 2025

Riviera Travel targets further growth in trade sales with new e-learning platform

The new Riviera Explorer platform features brand updates, bite-sized training modules and selling kits for agents with different levels of experience to use

How to sell the Rhone, by agents on a Riviera fam trip

Nine agents experienced the Burgundy, the River Rhone and Provence itinerary onboard the Lord Byron after winning their places at TTG’s Riviera Fest

Newmarket, Intrepid, Riviera: all the latest travel trade people moves

Newmarket Holidays has bolstered support for agents in the North East, while Intrepid Travel has brought in two new partnerships managers – elsewhere, Riviera Travel has appointed a new business development manager in Ireland

Globus's Phil Shipman: 'River cruise is tricky for agents to grasp'

Phil Shipman tells TTG about his cruise education and why it is crucial that travel agents experience Avalon Waterways’ fleet otherwise they will struggle to understand the line’s product offering

Riviera Travel to expand Mekong-based fleet in 2026

Victoria Mekong, which launched in 2019, will operate six departures between January and November 2026 on behalf of the river cruise and escorted touring specialist

easyJet holidays’ Winter 2025 launch In The Spotlight

Everything you need to know about the operator’s new season, with the chance to win a suitcase and £100 voucher